Spring Grove grad killed in Afghanistan

Six service members had been killed by a roadside bomb Sunday in eastern Afghanistan. None of the names had been released, but Mitchell knew. One of them was his 20-year-old-boy, Cameron Stambaugh.

Since Cameron deployed in February, the Stambaughs' relationship had become a modern, military family one - Facebook, text messages and worry.

Mitchell texted Cameron. "Please tell me you're OK."

Cameron didn't respond.

Sunday came and went. Mitchell Stambaugh worked night shift at P.H. Glatfelter and when he drove home, a silver SUV waited for him in the driveway.

The somber faces of the uniformed men inside confirmed it.

"I didn't want to believe it," Mitchell said, "but I knew."

The soldiers' deaths were the worst one-day loss of life for Fort Bliss, Tex., soldiers since the 507th Maintenance Co. lost nine at the outset of the Iraq war in March 2003. Sunday was a violent day in Afghanistan. Roadside bombs killed seven American soldiers, 19 Afghan civilians and seven Afghan policemen.

All six U.S. service members killed by the bomb that took Cameron Stambaugh's life were military police men.

The family

In Hanover, Pamela Smith, Cameron's mother, said she'd had a premonition.

Smith said she saw it in a dream a month ago. In the dream she'd been sitting in a car.

She was at work when a friend called her and gave her the news. "I know he's with God now," she said.

Mitchell called Cameron's brother, Jeffrey Stambaugh, on Monday morning to tell him the news. The U.S. Army, in a paperwork snafu, didn't recognize that Jeffrey was Cameron's brother, Mitchell said. So Jeffrey went about business as usual while his family worked to bring home not only Cameron's body, but Jeffrey.

Fort Hood public affairs did not respond to a request to contact Jeffrey.

A memorial for Private First Class Cameron Stambaugh killed in Afghanistan July 8, 2012 at his home in Jackson Township Tuesday July 10, 2012. His favorite video game. YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS - PAUL KUEHNEL ((THIS PHOTO GOES WITH A VIDEO)) (Paul Kuehnel)

"He said he just lost his best friend," Mitchell said.

The family will leave this morning to visit Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., to pick up Cameron's body.

The death has split Mitchell in two. He is proud of his son's service. "He's a true hero," he said, his voice breaking. "He gave his all. He paid his all."

But "I regret him being over there," he said. "Absolutely, we should not be there. It's senseless. The people over there just live to kill. They're probably celebrating."

The pact

Mitchell had been dreading the day for years.

As boys, Cameron and Jeffrey, made a pact to join the military.

The Stambaughs were fighting men, Mitchell explained. Mitchell's father was a World War II veteran.

From the left, Jeffrey Stambaugh, a brother serving as a Navy Seal, Mitchell Stambaugh and Pfc. Cameron Stambaugh pose for a photo during last Christmas. (DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS -- SUBMITTED)

But the gung-ho attitude came from Jeffrey, Cameron's younger brother by 10 months.

"Jeffrey called the shots," Mitchell Stambaugh said. "Cameron was always more of a follower."

He was quiet, but confident, Mitchell Stambaugh said. Inquisitive. "He could get into your head without saying a word," he said.

The family hunted for deer and small game. On a hunting trip in Fairfield when he was 12 years old, Cameron shot his first deer. They fished from the family boat.

Then the Army changed him, Mitchell said. He noticed when he saw the boy when he graduated from basic training. Cameron called him sir.

But he was as inquisitive as ever. Cameron had been raised a staunch Lutheran, but while stationed at Fort Bliss, Tex., he went to the mosque. "He was studying Muslim," Mitchell said.

The last time he saw Cameron alive was the day after New Year's, weeks before he was to ship out for Afghanistan.

"I could tell he was scared," Mitchell said, "but he said he was ready to go. He was only a kid."

Two weeks into his time in Afghanistan, Mitchell got word that Cameron had been wounded by shrapnel from an improvised explosive device. He feared for his son's life.

Some of Cameron's friends died in the war. He told his father over text messages and Facebook.

Every shred of bad news, "hit me like a kick in the gut," Mitchell said.

Two weeks ago, the two were talking on Facebook. Mitchell asked his son how it was going. Not good. Two of his friends had left the base in Kandahar on an MRAP. You could hear the explosion at the base. The vehicle had been blown into three pieces. Cameron was the first to arrive at the scene.

On Saturday, Cameron sent his father a picture on Facebook. In the photo, Cameron the boy had transformed. Muscles rippled across his chest and arms. Mitchell told his boy he was looking good. They said they loved one another.

It was their last conversation.

The El Paso Times contributed to this report.

The tree

For the July 4 holiday, someone wrapped a yellow ribbon around the Catalpa tree in Mitchell Stambaugh's front yard. The ribbon was meant to honor the military service of Stambaugh's sons Cameron and Jeffrey, who is stationed in Fort Hood, Tex.

After the news broke, friends turned the tree into a memorial. Beneath the yellow ribbon, Jen Swanner, Cameron's stepsister, leaned a poster-sized photo of Cameron. She added American flag banners. Someone placed a can of Monster energy drink - Cameron's favorite - on the roots of the tree.

During a press conference at the house, Mitchell and Cameron's older brother, Chad, wheeled Cameron's motorcycle next to the tree.

Cameron bought the blue and white bike after he graduated from Spring Grove Area High School in 2010. He rode it for three months until he shipped out for basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

"I worried to death on that," Mitchell said.

Here is raw video from an interview Tuesday with Mitchell Stambaugh at the family's home in Spring Grove. Separate interviews begin at the 2:30 mark and 23:00 mark, respectively.

* * *

Here is an AP video about the Sunday bombing:

Wars' fallen with local connections

A number of people with local ties have
died serving during the Afghanistan and
Iraq wars:

Army Pfc. Cameron Stambaugh, a 2010 Spring Grove Area High School graduate, died July 8, 2012 when a bomb exploded and killed him and five other U.S. troops, his family said.

U.S. Air Force airman Daniel Zerbe, a Red Lion Area High School graduate, died Aug. 6, 2011 when the helicopter he was in, along with 17 Navy SEALs and 12 other U.S. service members, was shot down in the Sayyidabad district of Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. Zerbe graduated from Red Lion in 2001.

Marine Sgt. Christopher M. Wrinkle of Stewartstown died in a house fire July 31, 2011 in the Herat province of Afghanistan. He was a 2001 Dallastown Area High School graduate.

Army First Lt. Daren Hidalgo, a Dallastown Area High School graduate, was killed Feb. 20, 2011 near Mama Kiriz, Afghanistan while conducting combat operations. He graduated from Dallastown in 2005 and from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2009.

Army Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmyer, a Glen Rock native, was killed Oct. 28, 2010, by a roadside bomb while he was on foot patrol in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. He was born in Glen Rock but moved to North Carolina at the age of 8.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Bill Cahir, 40, of
Alexandria, Va., died Aug. 13, 2009, in Helmand Province of Afghanistan after he was
shot while on patrol with his unit. He had
previously worked as a Washington correspondent for the York Daily Record/Sunday
News.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Michael Heede
Jr., 22, of Peach Bottom Township died
July 13, 2009, while supporting combat operations in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

Army Staff Sgt. Marc J. Small,
29, of Collegeville, died Feb. 12, 2009, at
Faramuz, Afghanistan after insurgents attacked his unit with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and small arms fire. A
grandmother lives in Dover.

Army Pvt. Michael Dinterman,
18, of Littlestown died Sept. 6, 2008, at
Outpost Restrepo in Kunar Province of Afghanistan, mortally wounded by enemy fire
while on foot patrol.

Army Spc. Zachary R. Clouser,
19, of Dover was one of four soldiers
killed July 18, 2007, after they were attacked by enemy forces using small arms
and an improvised explosive device in Adhamiyah, Iraq.

Army Pfc. Orlando E. "Eric"
Gonzalez, 21, of New Freedom died
March 25, 2007, in Baqubah, Iraq, when
the vehicle he was riding in rolled over an
improvised explosive device. He was a paratrooper.

Army 1st Lt. Robert A. Seidel,
III, 23, of Emmitsburg, Md., died May 18,
2006, while on patrol in Iraq. He was with
three other soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter
in an armored-up Humvee when it was
struck by an improvised explosive device.
His parents, Sandy and Robert Seidel Jr.,
live in Mount Joy Township, Adams
County.

Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder,
20, of Westminster, Md., died March 3,
2006, in a Humvee crash in Al Qaim, Iraq.
He served with the Combat Service Support Group-1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I
Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq. His
father, Albert Snyder, lives in Spring
Garden Township.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Jonathan Eric
McColley, 23, a Gettysburg native,
was among 10 service members who died
Feb. 17, 2006, when a pair of Marine
Corps helicopters crashed off the coast of
Africa. The helicopters were from Marine
Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, based at
Marine Corps Air Station New River in
North Carolina.

Spc. John N. Kulick, 35, of Montgomery County died Aug. 9, 2005, in Bayji,
Iraq, when a bomb exploded under his
Humvee. Kulick was assigned to the Army
National Guard's 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), Philadelphia.
His daughter lives in Dillsburg.

Gennaro Pellegrini Jr., 31, a Philadelphia police officer, died Aug. 9, 2005,
in Bayji, Iraq, when a bomb exploded
under his Humvee. He was killed along
with John N. Kulick. His sister, Dana Shearon, lives in Manchester Township.

Sgt. 1st Class Brett E. Walden,
40, of Dover Township died Aug. 5,
2005, in Rubiah, Iraq, when a civilian fuel
truck collided with his Humvee while performing a convoy mission. Walden was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special
Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell,
Ky.

Army Spc. Nicholas Zangara, 21,
of Philadelphia died July 24, 2004, when a
roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle.
He was assigned to the First Battalion,
Seventh Field Artillery Regiment, First Infantry Division. His wife, Melanie, is from
York County.

Henry A. Doll III, 56, formerly of
York, died May 13, 2004, in a vehicle accident in Iraq. He was working as a police
liaison officer for Computer Sciences Corporation's DynCorp International business
unit as part of a U.S. Department of State
program.

Army Spc. Martin Kondor, 20, of
Lower Windsor Township died April 29,
2004, when a makeshift bomb exploded
near the Humvee he was riding on near
Baqubah, a town about 40 miles northeast
of Baghdad.

Army Spc. Ryan G. Carlock, 25,
of Macomb, Ill., died in Iraq on Sept. 9,
2003. He was shot and killed while driving
a fuel truck for the 416th Transportation
Company, 260th Quartermaster Battalion.
His wife, Heather, is from York.

Army Pfc. Corey Lee Small, 20,
of East Berlin died July 2 or 3, 2003, from
a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Baghdad,
according to the Department of the Army.
He was assigned to the 502nd Military Intelligence Company, 2nd Armored Cavalry
Regiment. Military officials have two dates
of death listed on various reports about
Small's suicide.

Marine Reservist Lance Cpl.
Joseph B. Maglione III, 22, of Montgomery County died April 1, 2003, from a self-
inflicted gunshot wound in northern Kuwait,
according to the U.S. Marine Corps. His
father, Joseph B. Maglione II, lives in
Spring Garden Township. He was assigned to a bridge construction unit.

Marine Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston died March 20,
2003, in a helicopter crash in Kuwait. He
was the grandson of Jack W. Kennedy,
who was president of York International,
formerly York Corp. and now Johnson
Controls, from 1970 to the late 1980s. His
uncle, Todd Kennedy, lives in Hanover
and is president of McClarin Plastics in
Penn Township.

Navy SEAL Petty Officer 1st
Class Neil C. Roberts, 32, of Woodland,
Calif., died March 4, 2002. He was shot
and killed by al-Qaida forces after he fell
from a helicopter in the Kharwar Mountains
of Afghanistan. His wife, Patricia, was born
and raised in York County.

Check back for more details.

In this photo submitted to the York Daily Record/Sunday News in 2011, Army Pfc. Cameron Stambaugh participated in Vibrant Response at Camp Atterbury, Ind. Vibrant Response is a multi-service chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear response exercise held to coordinate response actions in the aftermath of a possible nuclear attack.